The U.S. Army has delivered, to troops in Afghanistan, 250 upgrade kits for their M24 bolt-action sniper rifles. These kids converts the M24s to the more powerful XM2010 sniper rifle. This main changed is allowing 7.62mm M24 rifles to fire the .300 Winchester magnum (7.62x67). This is a more powerful round than the NATO 7.62x51 round currently used in the M24. The conversion kit includes a new receiver and barrel, a new scope, a new flash suppressor and a folding buttstock. The XM2010 weighs 8.5 kg (18.7 pounds) and is 1.33 meters (52.2 inches) with the flash suppressor. The conversion...

The U.S. Army has ordered 3,600 upgrade kits for its M24 bolt-action sniper rifles, which will convert them to the M24E1. This will turn the existing 7.62mm M24 rifles into ones capable of firing the .300 Winchester magnum (7.62x67) round. This is a more powerful round than the NATO 7.62x51 round currently used in the M24. The conversion kit includes a new receiver and barrel, a new scope, a new flash suppressor and a folding buttstock. The conversion will take five years and will cost about $7,800 per rifle. Last year, the army ordered 38.4 million rounds of .300 Winchester...

The U.S. military has supplied about 10,000 M-16s to the Iraq Army. But officials acknowledged that the Iraqis have decided to maintain the AK-47 as the lead assault rifle.The Iraq Army has determined that the M-16 was more accurate than the Kalashnikov. But officials said the Army concluded that the AK-47 was more reliable in the searing Iraqi summers. U.S. Army advisers have completed a course on the M-16 assault rifle for Iraqi soldiers at Camp Taji. The two-week course, which took place in mid-June, was meant to help the Iraq Army introduce the M-16 and, in some units, replace...

Belgium-based firearms manufacturer FN Herstal hereby refutes the allegations recently found on the web that USSOCOM abandoned the 5.56 version of the SCAR rifle and reconfirms USSOCOM's decision to acquire the full FN SCAR family of weapons, including the 5.56mm rifle. The FN SCAR family of weapons consists of the 5.56mm SCAR rifle, 7.62mm SCAR rifle and 40mm LV Enhanced Grenade Launcher Module (respectively designated as MK 16, MK 17 and MK 13 by USSOCOM). These three components were developed by FN Herstal in close cooperation with USSOCOM and have each met all the operational and fielding tests required by...

Soldiers serving on Camp Taji, Iraq, trained Iraqi troops on the fundamentals of marksmanship with the M-16 rifle, June 15. The training was part of a continued effort by the U.S. to phase out the Iraqi Army's use of the Soviet-era AK-47 Kalashnikov assault rifle. The swap between the two weapons has gun-enthusiasts across the military and social-media sites up-in-arms, as fans of both weapons debate the practicality of the initiative. The AK-47, which has become symbolic of Middle Eastern militaries, has been used by the Iraqi Army since the 1960s. The weapon is less accurate than the western M-16...

In this war, snipers matter in close-quarters urban fights. So does penetrating power. Accurate ranged lethality is equally important for squads in open areas, where engagement distances can easily make 5.56mm rounds ineffective. Bolt-action sniper rifles solve these problems, but can get your best people killed in close-up automatic firefights. Semi-automatic weapons have traditionally been less reliable and accurate, but offer the only reasonable approach that covers both extremes. The result has been the emergence of a hybrid approach, on both a people level and a technical level. On the human end, militaries like the Americans and British are adopting...

The Times (the British one) has a story about the continuing debate over the 7.62mm round versus the 5.56mm as employed in the long range firefights in Afghanistan. The story asserts that the 5.56mm round used in the M4 rifle “lacks sufficient velocity and killing power in long-range firefights.” As Defense Tech readers know, we’ve covered this issue before. As for the stopping power of the 5.56mm round, that very topic came up at a roundtable discussion I attended with the Army’s Program Executive Office Soldier last month at Aberdeen Test Center, Md. It led to an interesting discussion about...

THE Russian producer of the Kalashnikov assault rifle, the world's most ubiquitous firearm, is facing bankruptcy owing to falling orders. A court in the Russian region of Udmurtiya has accepted a bankruptcy petition filed against Izhmash, the country's biggest arms manufacturer and the maker of the rifle. The iconic weapon has been produced in the millions and adopted by 106 armed forces across the globe, but production in its home land is now in doubt. Another Russian company, Gremikha, claims that the AK's maker owes them £8 million, and has now gone to court to get its money. Arms sales...

Killers turn to assault rifles 7.62 mm weapons used in recent slayings FLINT THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION Tuesday, June 28, 2005 By Ken Palmer, Bryn Mickle and James L. Smith FLINT - Assault rifles favored by Iraqi insurgents are finding their way onto Flint streets in alarming numbers. A spate of shootings using such 7.62 mm assault rifles as AK-47s has police worried about high-powered weapons better suited for war zones. Why so much worry? A 7.62mm round can cut straight through a bullet-resistant vest. "That powerful of a weapon is a concern for the safety of officers and...